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Chapter 16 Coastal Seas and Continental Shelves
Chapter 16 Coastal Seas and Continental Shelves
11
Biology
Undergraduate 3
07/20/2011

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Term
epibenthic organism
Definition
An organism that lives on the surface of hard sediments.
Term
interstitial animal
Definition
Animal that lives in the spaces between sediment particles.
Term
microphytoplankton (my-kroh-FYT-ohplank-tuhn)
Definition
Phytoplankton ranging from 20 to 200 micrometers.
Term
nanophytoplankton
Definition
Autotrophic plankton smaller than 20 micrometers.
Term
neritic zone (neh-RIT-ik)
Definition
The zone of water that lies over the continental shelves.
Term
patches
Definition
Unevenly distributed, localized aggregations of plankton in the sea or benthic organisms on the seafloor.
Term
patchiness
Definition
The uneven distribution of organisms in a population or a community.
Term
plume
Definition
A region of turbid water that spreads out from the mouth of a river or an estuary as it enters coastal seas.
Term
sediment
Definition
Loose particles of inorganic and organic material.
Term
shear stress
Definition
The force exerted by currents on an area of sea bottom.
Term
understory
Definition
The layer of low vegetation on the floor of a kelp forest.
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